Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowships in Health Innovation & Enhancement
The Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowships in Health Innovation (AI PFHI) and the Alberta Innovates Enhancement Fellowships (AI EF) are to assist with the strategic recruitment of top postdoctoral fellows (“Trainees”), with health related work, to the University of Alberta and the province of Alberta.
The annual stipend does not cover the cost of benefits for postdoctoral fellows; the supervisor or department will be responsible for covering the cost of supplemental benefits for the postdoctoral researcher.
AI PFHI Value
$55,000 CAD per year for up to two years. Funding cannot be provided beyond a Trainee’s fifth year in a postdoctoral appointment at the same institution.
Stipend Incentive: $15,000 - For Trainees in receipt of any other major comparable award (i.e. Killam, Notley, Tri-Council fellowships, etc.). The Stipend Incentive may be increased as necessary to ensure the combined value of the awards does not fall below $55,000 CAD per year.
AI EF Value
$55,000 CAD per year for up to one year. Funding cannot be provided beyond a Trainee’s fifth year in a postdoctoral appointment at the same institution.
Stipend Incentive: For Trainees in receipt of any other major comparable award (i.e. Killam, Notley, Tri-Council fellowships, etc.). These Fellowships function as bridge funding to help increase the competitiveness of Trainees in other future fellowship/salary award competitions. If Trainees are successful in other future competitions, they are encouraged to accept the new salary award. If the value of this new salary award is less than $55,000 CAD per year during the term of the Enhancement Fellowship, a Stipend Incentive will be provided to ensure the combined total equals $55,000 CAD per year. A Stipend Incentive cannot be offered to exceed the combined total of $55,000 per year.
Initial appointments must occur within five years from the completion of a doctoral degree or 10 years from the completion of a MD, DDS or equivalent. Appointments are for a limited period of time, from a minimum of three months to a maximum of five years. Refer to the Postdoctoral Fellows Policy and Appointment Procedure for complete details.
All Trainees must:
- Have completed a PhD at the time of award implementation;
- Have accepted or started a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Alberta;
- Be less than five years into a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Alberta;
- Have applied no more than once before for a Fellowship from Alberta Innovates (i.e. can apply two times in total to the University of Alberta’s competitions);
- Proposed projects must:
- Involve health-related R&I activities that are strongly aligned to at least one strategic priority;
- Be performed at the University of Alberta; and
- Be approved for funding by Alberta Innovates.
- Proposed supervisors must commit to cover the cost of supplemental benefits (includes health and dental coverage, WCB, CPP and EI). Applicants and their proposed supervisors should discuss the details of the fellowship appointment. Refer to the university’s PDF Collective Agreement and Benefits website for information on postdoctoral fellow appointments. Visit Human Resource Services Compensation Calculator for estimates of annual benefit costs.
- A speed code benefits can be charged to will be required to be provided to GPS if the applicant is offered a fellowship.
Applications received from the Recruitment Fellowships competition may be considered in this review cycle over the period for which the fellow remains eligible. The Postdoctoral Review Committee will determine if candidates will receive a PFHI or EF. There are no citizenship restrictions on this fellowship.
Trainees must submit their complete application (points 1-7 noted below) as one PDF via email to grad.awards@ualberta.ca by Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 11:59 pm MDT/Edmonton Time. Three letters of reference (point 8 noted below) are also to be sent directly to GPS by applicants referees by June 30. To avoid lost or emails sent to spam, applicants are to request Award Services to confirm receipt of their application upon email submission. Applicants who do not receive an email reply from grad.awards@ualberta.ca confirming receipt of their application within 2-3 business days are responsible for following up with GPS.
A complete application includes (refer to the Application form for detailed instructions); only one application is required for consideration of the AI PFHI or EF:
1. AI PFHI_EF Application Form
2. Project proposal with statement on relevancy to AI priority areas (1 page maximum)
3. Summary of career goals (1 page maximum)
4. Applicant CV
5. Supervisor statement of support (on institution letterhead and signed by the supervisor; can be included in the application by the applicant)
6. If applicable, copy of results letter(s) from any competitions that the applicant has applied to previously for the same project (e.g., CIHR competition results)
7. Certified true copy of PhD certificate. Scanned documents are acceptable:
- All documents submitted must be in English, as well as the original language in which they were written. A certified translator, not yourself, must prepare the English version of any documents not originally in English
- Applicants who have not fulfilled all requirements for their degree at the time of application must do so prior to commencing Fellowship. A transcript is not required.
8. Three Letters of Reference. As these letters are confidential, they must be submitted directly by the referees via email to grad.awards@ualberta.ca. Letters submitted by the applicant will not be accepted:
- Only have three appraisals sent. Any additional letters will be removed prior to the competition
- Applicants are responsible for supplying their referees with the documents necessary for them to write their respective letters.
June 25, 2024: Deadline for applicants to submit their complete application (points 1-7 noted above) as one PDF via email to grad.awards@ualberta.ca. The three letters of reference (point 8 noted below) are also to be sent directly to GPS by applicants referees by June 25. To avoid lost/spammed emails, applicants are to request Award Services to confirm receipt of their application upon email submission. Applicants who do not receive an email reply from grad.awards@ualberta.ca confirming receipt of their application within 2-3 business days are responsible for following up with GPS.
Acceptance/Decline
Successful applicants should review the Postdoctoral Fellows Policies and Procedures prior to accepting the Fellowship. Successful applicants are to complete the Fellowship Acceptance/Decline Form and submit it to GPS Award Services (grad.awards@ualberta.ca).
- Once the recipient has accepted the Fellowship, GPS Award Services will initiate the hire/payment process to proceed with a Letter of Offer.
- A speed code benefits can be charged to will be required to be provided to GPS.
- The regulations of the Fellowship prohibit recipients from holding any other major comparable award during the tenure of the Fellowship. Fellows who are offered a major fellowship from another granting agency are required to accept it. In this case, fellows would be eligible for a Stipend Incentive.
- All degree requirements must be met before the start date of the Fellowship. Fulfillment of degree requirements may vary by institution and degree type, but they normally include thesis defense corrections and thesis deposition.
- Recipients are to refer to the Fellowship Offer Letter for complete details of all acceptance contingencies.
Fellowship holders must complete and submit a Renewal Report to Award Services (grad.awards@ualberta.ca) at least six weeks before the start of the renewal year.
Final Reports
Alberta Innovates will provide annual surveys to the Fellowship Recipient over five years following the Fellowship completion to measure the impact and benefits of Alberta Innovates’ Investment, in a form to be determined by Alberta Innovates.